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NANCY GRACE

Police Collect DNA From Missing Haleigh`s Family

Aired March 6, 2009 - 20:00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, Satsuma, Florida. A 5- year-old little girl tucked into bed, five hours later, she`s gone, vanished into thin air, the back door propped wide open. The father comes home from the night shift to find not a single trace of little Haleigh.

Primetime exclusive tonight. We go live inside little Haleigh`s home, including the bedroom where the 5-year-old little girl is snatched in the middle of the night. How -- how -- could an intruder enter this home, including the bedroom where the girl slept along with her little brother and girlfriend/baby-sitter Misty Croslin, without detection? And for the first time since investigators clear the crime scene, Haleigh`s family goes back inside a home brimming with reminders -- Haleigh`s clothes, her photos, her pink-and-blue bicycle, favorite toys.

As we go to air, investigators back inside the home with Haleigh`s father. But why? In the last 48 hours, police insist on taking DNA evidence from multiple family members, including girlfriend/baby-sitter. Police emphasize no one -- repeat, no one -- has been cleared as a suspect. And was Haleigh spotted 35 miles away to the east, Saint Augustine, Florida? Tonight, inside the home of 5-year-old Haleigh, the very bedroom where she was snatched.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Poor little Haleigh Cummings. This 5-year-old girl`s missing now more than three weeks.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) back door was all open and I can`t find my daughter.

911 OPERATOR: Can`t find what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mobile home on Green Lane where the 5-year- old was sleeping the night police say someone abducted her is no longer a crime scene.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn`t hear anything at all, nothing. If I heard something, I would have got up and I wouldn`t have let them take her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They went through that house six or seven times. There`s nothing, nothing at all.

GRACE: The family now relying on psychics...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s not a dead case, it`s a cold case. I mean, it`s -- there`s all kinds of leads still coming in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Small reminders of Haleigh are everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cleaning her room was the hardest because she has her toys and everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Her bicycle sits out front, along with other toys.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just (INAUDIBLE) and just know that she`s not there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Never, ever imagined the pain that Ronald feels.

RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER: I would like to tell my daughter, if she`s watching, Baby, I love you, and we will find you. I love you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: And tonight, music superstar Rihanna brutally attacked just before she takes the stage at the Grammys. Stunning photos of a bloodied and beaten Rihanna go public as police announce an arrest. Rihanna`s alleged attacker, R&B superstar Chris Brown. As Rihanna stops cooperating with police, does it indicate she will not testify at trial? Suspect Chris Brown caught on video out on the town, boasting he`s got nothing to worry about. Hold on! Not so fast, Brown. It ain`t over yet!

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Brown (INAUDIBLE) not to annoy, harass, molest, threaten or influence (ph) (INAUDIBLE) Do you understand that, sir?

CHRIS BROWN, CHARGED WITH ASSAULT: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to a detective`s sworn statement, Brown became enraged after Rihanna read a text message on his cell phone from a woman he had a previous sexual relationship with. The affidavit says Brown took his right hand and shoved her head against the passenger window, punched her in the left eye and continued to punch her in the face, causing her mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing. The affidavit says Brown then told her, I`m going to beat the blank out of you when we get home. You wait and see. Now I`m really going to kill you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The judge asked whether or not he wanted a stay- away order, a no contact order for Rihanna with Chris Brown, and he said no.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If convicted, Brown faces up to four years and eight months in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Primetime exclusive tonight. We are live inside Haleigh`s home, including the bedroom where the 5-year-old little girl is snatched in the middle of the night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s full of laughter as she poses for the camera in this home video.

GRACE: ... vanished into thin air.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CUMMINGS: I just got home from work. My 5-year-old daughter is gone. I need somebody to be here now, I`m telling you!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You always hear of it happening, but it`s never happened here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that they just haven`t found anything. Nothing. No DNA evidence, no evidence of any kind. That`s why they`ve turned the house back over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The piece of information is going to come in that will lead us to her, we haven`t found it yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s just Haleigh all over the house.

GRACE: ... the back door propped wide open.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don`t know what the crime is, at this point. All we know is that Haleigh is missing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there talk from cousin Joe about revenge?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one is out of the mix.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is my neighborhood. I got grandkids, you know, and this worries me to death.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s our baby girl, and if you could just see her and call it in. We would greatly appreciate anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Won`t you help us?

Right now, we are there in Satsuma, Florida, live there at the crime scene just cleared by police. Joining me, our producer, Marlaina Schiavo, and Teresa Neves, the paternal grandmother of little Haleigh. Ladies, thank you for being with us.

You know, a lot of people have been extremely dubious, doubting, as to the girlfriend/baby-sitter`s story that in the middle of the night as she slept there in the room, someone came in the home, into the bedroom and took the little girl and nobody heard a thing.

Marlaina, show me the girl`s room. That`s the first thing I want to see.

MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: OK, Nancy. Well, we`re standing right here. Right beside me on my left is the bed where Misty Croslin was sleeping. And here on the right, we have the bed where little Haleigh was sleeping. And you can see it is all but about three-and-a-half feet from each other. And this is right where Misty said she got up and she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

Now, on the -- where I`m facing right now, Nancy, is a bathroom. It`s the master bathroom. Through the living room behind me is the other bathroom in the house. And you have to remember she said that when she got up to go to the bathroom, she saw that the kitchen light was on. The kitchen is over this way. So that means she would have had to have gotten up and gone out this door and then have noticed.

GRACE: OK. Stop. Marlaina, are you telling me that she did not go to the bathroom -- the baby-sitter did not go to the restroom, the master bathroom? She chose instead to go out the door, across the kitchen to another bathroom?

SCHIAVO: That is the assumption we are making. We asked Teresa, Haleigh`s grandmother, who`s standing with us. She wasn`t sure which bathroom she used. But if she saw the kitchen light on, she would have had to have used the other bathroom in the home, Nancy.

GRACE: Was the door open or shut, Ms. Neves? Because if the door was closed, that rules out her seeing the kitchen light. So was that bedroom door open when she realized the kitchen light was on?

TERESA NEVES, PATERNAL GRANDMOTHER: The bedroom door is always open.

GRACE: So they sleep with the bedroom door open?

NEVES: Yes, ma`am.

GRACE: Ms. Neves, where was the little brother?

NEVES: He was in the bed right here with Misty.

GRACE: OK, so the -- you`re answering a lot of questions by the way, Ms. Neves and Marlaina Schiavo. I`m seeing the short distance between the bed -- let`s take a full screen, please, Elizabeth. The full distance between the bed where Misty Croslin was sleeping and the little youth bed, the daybed, where Haleigh was sleeping can`t be more than about four feet, maybe five feet.

NEVES: I don`t think it`s that far.

SCHIAVO: Yes, it`s about -- it`s about four feet, Nancy, at most.

GRACE: All right. And the door is open.

SCHIAVO: Yes, the door is open.

GRACE: All right. What more can you tell me, Marlaina?

SCHIAVO: Well, basically, Nancy, we took a walk through with Teresa earlier, and we were trying to see if you -- if the door was loud when it opens, the back door where the intruder came in. We were also trying to see if the floor creaks. I must say, the floor does not creak. There`s carpeting throughout the home, with the exception of the kitchen. And the back door actually does slam.

Now, Teresa told us earlier that it was the screen door that was propped open with the cinderblock, not the actual main door. But both doors -- both doors, and I can take you and show you -- will both -- they both actually close automatically.

GRACE: OK. Wait. Before you leave the bedroom, Marlaina, how big is that bedroom? Yes, I don`t need to see the ceiling. Bring it back down. How big is the bedroom?

SCHIAVO: The bedroom is, I would say about -- I would have to say 11 by 13.

GRACE: OK. Let`s go through the rest of the house -- 11 by 13. Thanks. Go ahead. Tell me what else you observed.

SCHIAVO: OK. Well, basically, Nancy, they kept saying that the door, the back door, which we are about to go to, is about 16 feet from the bedroom. It`s a little bit more than that, actually. If I had to guess, it would probably be about 25. But I`m going to show you the back door and show you how both doors close automatically. So -- and I`m also going to show you the lock because the lock is about three feet from the floor, and we know that that`s about as tall as Haleigh stands.

So here`s the back door and here`s the lock. It sticks, so -- there you go. Now, we open the back door, and here`s the back screen door, the one that was propped open with the cinderblock, OK? Now, if you see when it closed -- it slams. It makes a loud noise. But if you leave this door -- this slowly closes, as well. So leaves a lot of questions as to what exactly -- how exactly did this person do this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

CUMMINGS: I just got home from work. My 5-year-old daughter is gone! I need somebody to be here now!

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I walked in the kitchen and the back door`s wide open. And I go in the room, and she`s gone. And that`s all I know!

CUMMINGS: Came home this morning to find out that I didn`t have a child, that somebody stole my child. It`s not like a bicycle or a car. Somebody stole my child!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... to have to go back in the room where the little girl was stolen from. I could not even come close to imagining what goes through his mind and how his heart is broken.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Misty Croslin said that she realized Haleigh was missing in the middle of the night when she woke up to use the bathroom. There`s two bathrooms in the mobile home, one directly in the master bedroom and the other all the way across the living room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are live inside the home where little Haleigh is snatched in the middle of night while sleeping there in the room with the baby- sitter/girlfriend and the little brother.

Straight back out to our producer, Marlaina Schiavo. And leading us on the tour of the home, paternal grandmother of Haleigh, Teresa Neves. Ms. Neves, again, thank you for letting us inside your home.

Marlaina, I want to go back to that back door very quickly. What more can you tell me? Uh-oh, Marlaina can`t hear us.

While we wait for the satellite to clear up with Marlaina, let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining me, Gloria Allred, Randy Kessler, Joe Episcopo. To you, Joe Episcopo. I understand police have been back at the home with the father today and they have just insisted on taking DNA from all the family members. What does that mean to you?

JOE EPISCOPO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, it means to me that they don`t have a viable suspect and they`re fishing around, like police do. They`re trying to find some evidence to make some connection. And I think they`re just trying to do the best they can do.

GRACE: Gloria?

GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIMS` RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Nancy, they`re trying to gather all of the evidence. As the sheriff indicate, they don`t yet have an item of evidence that is going to lead them to Haleigh, in their opinion at this time. So they have to keep checking and rechecking and gathering everything they can.

GRACE: To Randy Kessler, defense attorney out of Atlanta. Randy, to me, the fact that they are taking DNA from all the family members does not mean anything nefarious because it may be they want to rule out DNA they found in the home. All the family members are rightfully there. But if they find DNA in the home that doesn`t match a family member, then they`ve got something to go on. So this is not necessarily a suspicious thing for the family.

RANDY KESSLER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, you know, was it Sherlock Holmes said deductive logic? You know, that`s what they`re trying to do. And also, what if they do find some evidence? What if they find a car, some abandoned, you know, box that had the child, who knows, and then they find DNA on that box? They want to be ready to go, and good for them. It sounds like they`re pulling out a lot of resources, investing a lot of time, money and energy to be ready to catch whoever did it and then we`ll find out what it is.

GRACE: Straight out to T.J. Hart, the news director with WSKY 97.3. T.J., it`s good to see you again. T.J., what can you tell me about this alleged sighting 35 miles to the east?

T.J. HART, WSKY 97.3: Well, I tell you, it got a lot of people excited, too, because what had happened was there was a sighting of a man with a little girl walking on State Road 16 near Highway 1. And when this report came in, of course, law enforcement quickly went out to the scene. They went near the railroad tracks and they finally found the man who matched the description. It turned out that it was indeed a man who was walking his little girl to school. A lot of people had a lot of hope that this, indeed, was a sighting of young Haleigh. It turned out to be someone else.

Once again, she does have some identifiable markers folks need to look out for, including that birth mark on her cheek that looks like a peanut and also one on her jaw that is consistent with her Turner syndrome.

GRACE: But you know, T.J., the birthmark on her cheek is very, very pale. In most photos...

HART: It certainly is.

GRACE: ... you don`t even see it.

HART: That`s true. That`s true. But when people are the eyes out in the community, it`s something a little bit more to look for. We have so many people acting as eyes in the community. In Indiana, a truck driver took a picture of a young girl thinking, of course, it was young Haleigh. Grand Junction, also in Tennessee, as well. People are out there. They do have their eyes peeled. But it`s down to the details.

GRACE: Let`s see a map of the various Haleigh sightings, the last one seemingly the most promising...

HART: It was.

GRACE: ... Saint Augustine, Florida. I want to go to Matt Zarrell as we show you this map, our staffer on the story. Matt, what more can you tell me about the latest in the investigation? I understand it is transitioning from a ground search to an investigative search. What do you mean by that?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER: Well, they`ve gotten over 2,400 tips at this point and they still continue to get leads from the public every single day. You`ve got volunteers out searching throughout the weekends and during the week. And now what they`re doing, they`re doing tactical searches. When they get leads and tips that come in, then they`re searching based on that information.

GRACE: To Dr. Jeff Gardere, psychologist and author of "Love Prescription." Dr. Gardere, thank you for being with us.

JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: A pleasure, Nancy.

GRACE: The family has just gone back into the home. And apparently, the father couldn`t take it. He could not take looking at the home, especially Haleigh`s room with all of her favorite toys, her blue-and-pink bicycle. What`s your advice?

GARDERE: Well, he`s taken this harder than anyone else, which is completely understandable. But my advice to him is that if he cannot take being around that environment where his beautiful daughter was, then he should spend some time away from the home, certainly spending more time with family, which is what he`s been doing and that has been a source of strength for him, Nancy.

GRACE: Everyone, we are live right now, about to take you back into the home where little Haleigh was allegedly kidnapped in the middle of the night. There you see the little bed where she was sleeping only about three feet away from where the baby-sitter/dad`s girlfriend was asleep with the little brother. We`ll be right back.

First to, tonight`s "Case Alert." Tonight marks the 16th anniversary in the mystery surrounding the murder of a 51-year-old Arizona mother, Gail Parker, vanishing March `93 after leaving a Tucson Circle K. Just hours later, she`s found bludgeoned to death in the desert, her purse and jewelry gone. The reward at $100,000. Take a look. If you have info, call Tucson police 520-791-4487.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the back door area, you can see that you have to walk up a ramp in order to get into the house. Now, what we do know is that Haleigh was afraid of the dark. And on both sides of the house, there is densely wooded area.

The back door has two locks on the door. The second lock which you would have to turn is a tight lock, so it wouldn`t be likely that little Haleigh would have been able to turn the lock and then let herself out the door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Marlaina, back to you there in the home. What can you tell me again about that door?

SCHIAVO: OK, Nancy. Basically, what I was saying to you is that the back door opens and shuts. When it shuts, it shuts automatically. So this was the one that was propped up with the cinderblock. This is a deadbolt, OK? Misty said that this one was wide open and this was propped open with the cinderblock. So basically -- and -- but if you leave this door by itself, it slowly closes on its own. So there was laundry on the floor, as you recall. Misty found the pink shirt by the back door where the laundry was. The laundry room machines are right here. If you put this down, the door stops.

GRACE: So to Teresa Neves joining us, the paternal grandmother of Haleigh. Ms. Neves, is it your understanding that there was laundry on the floor that night? Yes, no.

NEVES: I hate to say it, Nancy, but there`s almost always laundry on the floor.

GRACE: OK. Believe me, it`s that way in every home in America. But my point is -- I don`t care about laundry on the floor. I`m thinking about the mindset of a potential attacker, comes in the house, props open the back door with a cinderblock -- nobody knows where the cinderblock came from. That door`s open. And he steps over -- I`m pretty sure it`s a he -- steps over laundry, makes his way back out that door, Doesn`t shut. He doesn`t kick the laundry to the side. Haleigh never says a word. He`d have to prop it open before he comes in to get Haleigh. He couldn`t prop it open with a cinderblock with Haleigh in his arms. I mean, think about it.

NEVES: Right.

GRACE: So he must know that this door automatically slams. Marlaina, standing in the bedroom, can you hear the door slam? Yes, no.

SCHIAVO: No.

GRACE: Are you sure?

SCHIAVO: You can`t hear the door slam. We tried it once, and you can barely hear it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Haleigh`s family releasing new home video of Haleigh hoping to generate leads. As family, police, volunteers, working around the clock to bring the little girl home.

MARIE GRIFFIS, MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER OF HALEIGH: It hurts because we don`t have her, but at least I do have this that I can see her and look at her.

GRACE: Little Haleigh taken out of her home in the middle of the night according to the girlfriend/babysitter.

MISTY CROSLIN, GIRLFRIEND OF HALEIGH`S FATHER RONALD CUMMINGS: When I want to sleep she was there. And then when I woke up she was gone. I wish that they would have took me instead of her, you know, because I could have fought. You know, she`s only 5. She can`t really do anything. And I just wish they would have took me instead of her. What do they want with a little 5-year-old?

RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF MISSING 5-YR-OLD HALEIGH CUMMINGS: I guess I do have a message for whoever has taken Haleigh. I would ask that you please, please bring my daughter home. And she is not yours. It`s not property. You know, it`s not something that you just take and say it`s mine or whatever. This is my daughter. This is blood and I would like to have my daughter back. Please.

MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: From the back door it`s about 16 steps through the kitchen and through the living room right to and the front of Haleigh`s toddler bed in the bedroom. Directly across from her bed is a bed where Misty Croslin was sleeping with Haleigh`s little brother, Junior.

Misty Croslin said that she realized that Haleigh was missing in the middle of the night when she woke up to use the bathroom. Now there`s two bathrooms in the mobile home. One that is directly in the master bedroom and another one that is all the way across the living room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: We are live inside that Satsuma home taking a look at where little Haleigh went missing. This in response to many of your questions about the lay out of the home.

Marlaina, you are there with Miss Theresa Neves, the paternal grandmother. Very quickly as we go to the lawyers, could you give me a walk through from the back door to the bedroom? I want to get a feel of how far away it is.

SCHIAVO: OK, Nancy. We`re at the back door. We`re coming through the kitchen here. Into the living room for a minute. And then around this corner is where the bedroom is. It`s about, you know.

GRACE: Keep going.

SCHIAVO: It`s about 20. So here we are into the bedroom. And this -- what I was saying to you earlier that we couldn`t see before, here is the master bathroom. Here`s the bed where Misty Croslin was sleeping with Junior. Now basically she would have to get up and either go to this bathroom or she would have to turn around, go that way into the other bathroom.

GRACE: So how many feet.

SCHIAVO: At this point.

GRACE: How many feet is it approximately, Marlaina, from where they were sleeping -- where the little girl was asleep in the middle of the night to that back door where the perp allegedly came in?

SCHIAVO: I`m going to say about 25 feet, Nancy.

GRACE: OK.

NEVES: (INAUDIBLE)

GRACE: What, Miss Neves?

NEVES: I said I walked it in 16 steps.

GRACE: OK. And a step is usually about a foot for somebody your size.

Miss Neves, I understand that you all came back into the home to clean up. Did the police leave it a mess after the search?

NEVES: It was -- it was not -- they did their job, I guess.

GRACE: Got it.

NEVES: They turned the furniture over. They emptied the toy bins. They - - you know, they emptied whatever she might be in, pulled the -- pulled the paneling off the tub to make sure that she wasn`t in there.

GRACE: Did they take fingerprint?

NEVES: Basically we just tried to put it back. Yes, ma`am.

GRACE: So there was all the black fingerprint powder, too.

Steve Kardian, former police detective in New York. Steve, that`s the way it always is when there`s a thorough search it looks like somebody just completely rampaged the place. They tear everything up. And they are not house maids. They`re not paid, the detectives, to go back and put everything right. They were there to find evidence.

That`s tough, but that`s the way it is.

STEVE KARDIAN, FMR. POLICE DETECTIVE: Yes, Nancy, it is. Everything is left un-unturned, everything is checked. And rechecked and rechecked again. And the fingerprints are taken. Any potential samples of DNA would be obtained. Anything worth evidentiary value but they would go through that house completely.

GRACE: And Steve, when you take fingerprints it is really a huge mess because it looks like somebody takes black talcum powder and just throws it everywhere. That`s how you lift latent prints. It`s very difficult to clean up after that. I`m sure you`ve seen, Steve Kardian, many, many crime scenes.

I want to go back to Theresa Neves, Haleigh`s grandmother. Miss Neves, do you stand firm that you believe Misty Croslin`s story, the babysitter that was with her that night?

NEVES: Yes, ma`am, I do.

GRACE: Another question -- Miss Neves, I understand that your son Ronald is not able, even now, to go back into the home? Why? What happened?

NEVES: It`s just very hard for him to come in here where Haleigh brought so much happiness and laughter. And see all her things and know that she is not here.

GRACE: How does it feel to you to be in there right now?

NEVES: I hope it`s helping Haleigh.

GRACE: Ms. Neves, one thing you`ve done for so many people tonight is to put to rest a lot of questions. We see the lay out of the home. We see that it`s not a shotgun home where it`s a straight shot and you can definitely hear everything at one end that happens at the other end. A lot has been cleared up.

Miss Neves, I understand that the police tore out the wall where the water heater was. Why?

NEVES: I couldn`t tell you unless they were looking for a way in or a way out. I don`t know.

GRACE: Miss Neves, a lot of viewers are wondering why your son Ronald is no longer making appearances on air to ask for help in finding Haleigh, why?

NEVES: It has -- pretty much, Nancy, there has been some really terrible things said about my son. He is a good father. I mean, it`s evident if you see him with his son or in the pictures with Haleigh. And he just feels like that -- that they`re beating him up.

GRACE: Well, assuming, and I am assuming that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, the media and others have been brutal on Ronald. And I understand.

I want to go to the Dr. Zhongxue Hua from Union County, the New Jersey medical examiner.

Doctor Hua, what toll, and I assuming that little Haleigh is still alive, would it take on her to be with a stranger all this time?

DR. ZHONGXUE HUA, UNION CO., N.J. MEDICAL EXAMINER: It`s -- I mean it`s very hard for young kids of her age to spend time with -- entirely separate from her parents and live with a stranger. It`s a new environment. It will take a while for the kids to adapt to it.

GRACE: To Matt Zarrell, weigh in, Matt?

MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Well, I think at this point they`re still looking for more clues. You`ve got sightings that are coming in every day. The family is praying for return. A $26,000 reward being offered. So they`re still hoping that they can get some more clues into whereabouts.

GRACE: I want to go back to Miss Neves there with our producer Marlaina Schiavo inside the home.

Miss Neves, when you look at the bed where little Haleigh was sleeping that night, what runs through your mind?

Last night when I got of the show and went home hand I checked on the twins, and I thought about, if I came home and that crib was empty, what would I do? And for the rest of the night, last night, I was walking around, I looked at the windows, the doors, I kept going back in and checking on the twins.

When you look at that bed, what goes through your mind?

NEVES: I just pray to God that Haleigh is alive so that she can come home and sleep in her bed again.

GRACE: Miss Neves, what message do you want to send tonight right now?

NEVES: I would like to thank everybody for their help and thank you, Nancy, for keeping my granddaughter out there, and I would just look to beg whoever has my granddaughter to please bring her home.

GRACE: Everyone, the tip line for little Haleigh is 888-277-TIPS. That`s 888-277-8477. Everyone is begging for your help. Here you`re seeing all right information about little Haleigh. Age 5, last seen, 2/10/09 there in Satsuma, Florida.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD ETRA, RIHANNA`S ATTORNEY: Concerning her rights whether or not the court should issue a stay-away order in this case, Rihanna requested that no such order be issued.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Singer Rihanna wants the court not to issue a no contacted order against her boyfriend Chris Brown. Brown was in court facing two felony charges for allegedly assaulting her during an argument in February.

ETRA: But the court issued level one protective order, ordering Chris Brown not to annoy, molest, or harass her. We feel that that`s more than sufficient in this case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: According to court documents, Brown threatened to kill her during an argument over a text message. A police detective says Rihanna`s mouth was filled with blood after Brown allegedly punched her. The affidavit said the text message was from a woman with whom Brown had a past sexual relationship.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Brown, you have the right to be arraigned today and have your trial within 60 days of today`s date. Do you now reach final agreement (INAUDIBLE) your arraignment to April 6th this year?

CHRIS BROWN, R&B SINGER: Yes, ma`am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Tom O`Neil, senior editor at "In Touch Weekly." All right. He beats the smithereens out of her. I`ve got the affidavit for the search warrant right here. While he`s beating her, according to this sworn testimony, with his right hand driving with his left hand, he says "I`m going to beat the F out of you when we get home. You wait and see."

She, Rihanna, picks up the phone, calls her assistant, says I`m on my way home. Make sure cops are there, pretending to talk. He says you just did the stupidest thing ever. Now I`m really going to kill you. Her clothes, inside of the car, covered in blood.

And now, we learn she wants the judge not to issue a no-contact order. Why?

TOM O`NEIL, SENIOR EDITOR IN TOUCH WEEKLY, COVERING STORY: Well that was the breakthrough as of yesterday because she`s with him now, Nancy. She can`t.

GRACE: Whoa, there she is.

O`NEIL: Yes, they are. As of last week they were down at Diddy`s mansion in Miami kissing and cuddling and carrying on.

GRACE: Excuse me, you said, Diddy?

O`NEIL: Mm-hmm.

GRACE: I assume you are referring to Sean Puffy Combs.

O`NEIL: Yes.

GRACE: I did not realize that you were on a first name basis.

O`NEIL: Well.

GRACE: You are seeing to the left of Rihanna.

O`NEIL: Yes.

GRACE: . the faces of battered women. Women brave enough to let their photos be public after brutal beatings at the hands of their boyfriends, lovers, husbands, exes.

Joining me right now, along with Tom O`Neil, is Yvette Cade. You will remember Yvette Cade, a long time victim of domestic violence whose story culminates when her ex comes into her place of business, at a phone store, and throws acid on her. It has taken her such a long time to rehabilitate.

Miss Cade, what do you make of superstar Rihanna back with her attacker?

YVETTE CADE, VICTIM OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: I`m appalled. What I just heard is -- is really devastating me because I heard rumors today, I have been praying for her, for some time. And the rumor I heard was that this past weekend her and Chris entertained to get married.

And that is actually my story. I had a fight with my ex husband. At the time he was my boyfriend. And to get out of court I agreed to go to Justice of the Peace and in order for me to stay. Her case will be the public eye and go on about her business. But I think she has made the worst mistake of her life getting back with him.

I believe that she needs time to really think about what she is doing.

GRACE: I agree, Miss Cade. Miss Cade, do you remember -- of course you do -- the moment when your ex set you afire?

CADE: I do. The flames were 1,500 degrees. And it was just by the grace of God that I was able to consciously run to -- run back in the store and get to a sink and spray my face.

GRACE: Everyone, I want to go now to Naomi Goldstein, a reporter joining us via Web-cam.

Naomi, they are so young. It`s really hard to put the burden on Rihanna to speak for battered women across the country. But this is sending an extremely disturbing message. Is it true that, a, they were married over the weekend? And b, that the alleged perpetrator, Chris Brown, was living it up and actually stated he is not sweating it?

NAOMI GOLDSTEIN, NANCY GRACE REPORTER, VIA WEBCAM, COVERING STORY: That`s right, Nancy. Well, we`re not sure about the marriage. I had heard the same rumor that Yvette heard about them getting married at P. Diddy`s mansion in Miami over the weekend. But there`s no actual factual reports on that.

GRACE: OK.

GOLDSTEIN: As far as Chris Brown partying it up after court yesterday, there was reports from TMZ that he was indeed at a local L.A. hotel with his bodyguards until about 3:45 a.m. this morning.

GRACE: To Gloria Allred, it is not uncommon for battered to take the perp back.

GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM`S RIGHTS ADVOCATE: That`s true, Nancy, and here`s my question. Is she an emotional hostage to Chris Brown? And who is enabling her to continue in this relationship? I don`t think Sean Diddy, P. Diddy, or anyone else should be supportive of Rihanna and Chris Brown being together in a relationship at this time.

GRACE: To "CNN HEROES."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Heroes.

EFREN PENAFLORIDA JR., CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: Gang members are groomed in the slums as early as 9 years old. They`re all victims of poverty.

I`m Efren Penaflorida Jr. In high school, gangs were very rampant. I felt the social discrimination and I was then -- I was bullied. I got afraid. So we thought of a group to actually divert teenagers be productive. So that`s why we are bringing the classroom to the kids.

We operate the pushcart every Saturday. We teach them language and mathematics. And we also have our hygiene clinic.

RHANDOLF, FORMER GANG MEMBER (Through translator): My gang mates were the most influential thing in my life. I would probably be in jail right now or most likely a drug addict if I hadn`t met Efren.

PENAFLORIDA: Yes, I always tell to my volunteers you are the change you dream, and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be.

ANNOUNCER: Tell us about your hero at CNN.com/Heroes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and more important the people who touched our lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: The state announcing the death penalty is off the table. Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With all this new evidence coming out nothing has changed at this point. From what I have been told that decision could change any time up until the trial starts. But at this point nothing has changed. The state does not intend as of today to put the death penalty on this case.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Law enforcement officials say they continue to get tips in the case of the missing Florida boy Adji Desir, who was last seen playing outside his grandmother`s home.

GRACE: Tom Smith with the special crimes bureau, Collier County Sheriff`s Office, who`s the lead investigator into Adji`s disappearance.

Lieutenant, thank you for being with us.

LT. TOM SMITH, SPECIAL CRIMES BUREAU, COLLIER CO. SHERIFF`S OFFICE, ON THE CASE: Thank you again for airing Adji`s story. You know, keeping his picture in everybody`s mind is very crucial to finding him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He allegedly began punching her in the arm, causing contusions. She then attempted to send a text message from her phone. Chris Brown allegedly threw that phone out the window. So she picked up his cell phone. He put her in a headlock. Bit her on the left ear. The car swerved. They stopped. More punching ensued. Another headlock.

GRACE: Thousands of pages, stunning documents, inside the tot mom police investigation just released.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last time that Caylee was ever seen alive, June 16th, there was partying on June 20th. So farther on to have the pictures, I think, is evident of a state of mind prosecutors would say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Army Captain Michael Medders, 25, Avon Lake, Ohio, killed Iraq. A Bowling Green State grad. Awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. An all Southwestern Conference football star. Loved baseball and basketball. Dreamed of marrying his fiancee. Leaves behind grieving parents, Michael and Lynn, three sisters, beloved fiancee, Stacy.

Michael Medders, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but especially to you. A special good night from the New York control room. Good night, Brett, Norm, Liz. And good night from Georgia and Alabama friends of the show, Gaylin, Mary, Dawn, Shay, Jennifer, and Meredith. Aren`t they beautiful?

Everyone, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END